Many
agencies throughout the federal government host their own blogs, and the
National Institute on Drug
Abuse (NIDA) is no exception. They’ve got a blog called the
Sara Bellum Blog to help teens
prevent and combat drug abuse. The Sara Bellum Blog is written by scientists at
NIDA and uses science to help teens understand the dangers of drug use.
Teen
Brain, a Work in Progress, was a post back in September about the
physiological effects that drugs have on young brains. Other posts include
personal stories from recovered drug addicts and their families, and tips on
avoiding drug abuse and the situations that may exacerbate it. The latest post
focuses on stress relief for the holidays. The blog encourages teens who may be
feeling down this time of year to use exercise and other activities to keep
their spirits up, rather than drugs. This blog does a great job of getting the
anti-drug message out without being sanctimonious.

As
we approach the New Year, many of us take the opportunity to make
changes and resolutions that will help us live happier, more productive
lives. Of a list of New Year’s resolutions, losing weight,
exercising more,
eating better, and
quitting smoking are
at the top. If any of those are your resolutions for 2012,
INShape Indiana has got you
covered!

To help you begin your
healthy journey, you can read
individual success
stories that will hopefully inspire and motivate you. INShape
Indiana has many tools and resources to help you achieve your goals.
For example, the page on exercise has guidelines, calorie burn rates,
and tips on how to force yourself off the couch. Good luck and have a
happy, prosperous New Year!

The
holiday season is winding down and that means that there are a lot of materials
that are getting thrown out. Why throw something away when you can recycle it?
According to an
announcement from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM),
wrapping paper, electronics, and even Christmas trees can all be recycled. Many
communities have curbside pick-up for recyclables – IDEM encourages citizens to
take advantage of that service and be sure to toss used bottles and wrapping
paper in the recycle bin rather than the trash can. Citizens who don’t have
curbside pick-up, or who are looking to recycle electronics or hazardous
materials, will want to find other means.
Recycle Indiana has a
page dedicated to local Solid
Waste Management Districts (SWMD’s). You can go there to find out the recycling
situation in your community.

The
new year is sure to be an exciting time for Indiana, politically
speaking. The Legislative Session for the
Indiana General
Assembly will begin on January 4, 2012. Indiana citizens can track
bills
and resolutions, various
standing committees, and other information to keep fully informed of
the political process in Indiana. If you need to know your district or
find out information about your legislator, click
here. By
entering your address, you can find out who your representatives are on
both the state and national levels. Each legislator profile also
includes contact information. People who want to get involved in the
political process can also use the General Assembly website to
contact their
legislator with questions or concerns about current legislation.

Old-Timey Films on
the 1940 Census

In 1940, the Census Bureau produced two short films trumpeting
the general census that year and the first-ever census of
housing. In the film on the general census, “Know
Your U.S.A.“ (3 min.), the narrator exhorts citizens to
cooperate with the census: “You cannot know your country unless
your country knows you.” The film tells us that there were 130
million free people and 7 million farms in 1940. (Now there are
312 million people and 2.1 million farms.) The narrator
practically gushes over the “mechanical marvels of accuracy”
tabulating the received data.

The second film, “The
1940 Census of Housing” (11 min.), begins with the reasoning
behind the census and provides background information about what
constitutes a dwelling. It includes this funny yet sad list: “In
addition, places not intended for habitation but in which people
are living must be enumerated and this includes such usual
places as stables, fruit sheds, box cars, houses that are
falling down, temporary shacks, boats, trucks and any other such
place actually being used as a dwelling.”

It then continues with dramatizations of a
census taker asking various homeowners questions meant to draw
attention to fine distinctions between categories. There are
repeated shots of a pen filling out a census form. The acting is
charmingly stiff and self-conscious.

A transcript of one interview with a
homeowner reveals that even back then, mortgagors might be
confused about who held their mortgage (a problem, of course,
during the recent financial crisis):

Census Taker (CT): Who holds the
first mortgage on your house?

Homeowner (H): The Institution
Mortgage Company.

CT: Does the Institution Mortgage
Company actually hold the mortgage, or do you simply make
payments there?

H: I’m not sure about that. I
believe somebody else actually holds the mortgage and the
Institution Mortgage Company merely makes the collections. Yes I
remember now. I received a notice from the mortgage company that
they had sold the mortgage to somebody else.

CT: Do you remember to whom they
sold the mortgage?

H: I am not sure which one, but I
know it was a life insurance company.

This article is brought to you by the
Liberty
Street Economics blog of the Federal Reserve Bank of New
York. The views expressed in this post are those of the author
and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System. Any
errors or omissions are the responsibility of the author.